Tricia Beatty, the chief executive of the Professional Fishermen's Association of New South Wales (PFA), estimated the extra cost of fuel to be between $10,000 and $15,000 a year, and there are limited options for fishermen to be paid more for their catch.

"We are not price makers, we're price takers. When a fisherman brings in his product he has to take the price that's offered to him.

"Business costs are increasing as well so we don't have much margin. There's not much profit for the fishermen and it's hurting them.

"They're really stressed. There's major mental health issues in the industry at the moment and it's all culminating in a tough situation for our industry."

Cheap as chips no more

Combined with other factors the high fuel prices could be affecting the cost of fish and chips at your local takeaway shop.

"We've had to increase the price of fish and chips," Andrew Mitchell said, the general manager of the Coffs Harbour Fishermen's Co-op.

"We've had oil go up in price because of the drought, the sunflower oil we use for our fish and chips has gone way up in price and fuel's gone way up in price, so a box of fish and chips has gone up by a dollar or two depending on what type of fish and chips you get.

"The locals think we're trying to rort them, and we're not, it's simply that our costs have gone way up."

Consumers are upset about the price of fish and chips, according to Andrew Mitchell.

Commercial fisherman Drew Mudaliar is being more strategic when picking days to head out.

ABC Rural: Michael Cavanagh

"No one likes to head out to sea and find that their set fishing gear is pulled down by currents or that the weather's too rough to operate. They'd incur a fuel bill with no income, so we'll try and avoid those days."

Ian Perry, a commercial prawn trawler based in Coffs Harbour, said he is doing what he can to get a better price.

"Value-adding is an option and selling locally is a good option because we take away the freight cost," Mr Perry said.

"[Increasing prices] becomes an issue because the higher the price gets to cover our costs the less you sell locally because the [local] people can't afford them."

Mr Perry said he is worried that any further rises could force fishers out of the industry.

"We can manage with what we've got, there's different marketing plans and we can put things in place to cover that, but if it gets any higher it gets over a scale we can't deal with."

Ian Perry says if fuel prices rise much more people will leave the industry.

Work is underway to try to improve fuel efficiency in the fishing industry.

ABC Rural: Matt Brann

"Our fisheries are heavily regulated and the way our nets are set up are also heavily regulated by the Department of Primary Industries (DPI)," Ms Beatty said.

"We're looking at getting an open permit for the trawl fishery that outlines a range of different modifications that fishers could do to improve their fuel efficiency, and while doing so also reduce their unwanted bycatch.

"Currently if you want to do anything that is outside regulation you need to apply to DPI for a permit to allow you to test something and those permits have a heap of reporting requirements … it's not a quick and easy thing."

A spokesperson said the DPI has been investigating the possibility of an "open permit" system.

"Before more open permits can be issued, there needs to be further investigation of new gear types to ensure that potential increases in fuel efficiency will be achieved and there are not unintended consequences, such as negative environmental impacts, and to ensure that any changes will be useful to the majority of the industry," the spokesperson said.

Ms Beatty said the option of eliminating the industry's reliance on fuel is also being explored.

"There's been a lot of investigation into electric motors in the industry. There's a couple of boats that are looking at that as an option but the electric engines can't push the big old boats, they can only do small boats," she said.

"There's trawlers that are looking at sail and engine options as well.